Seeked symptoms and conditions

"Stuck Between a Rock and a Hard Place" 04/04/07
Thank you for all of your shares! Has anyone experienced Diarrhea as a result of taking Yasmin 28? I have been on it for 4/5 years. I started taking it because my GYN diagnosed me with endometriosis and my periods were heavy and sooo very painful. So, at first it was a relief; my periods didn't last as long, were not as heavy and the cramps were lessened. HOWEVER, ever since I have been on the Yasmin, I have been certainly very moody, and I have had moderate to severe tummy pains a lot of the time, and spontaneous bowel movements including diarrhea! I have tried every medication from anti-spasmadic meds to anti-anxiety meds to homeopathic remedies and probiotics. I was diagnosed with IBS many years ago but the symptoms grew soooo much worse ever since I started the Yasmin!! After being on Yasmin, it was as if my whole gastro system broke down; I have seeked help & testing from gastroenterologists since I developed ulcers due to h-pylori bacteria, diverticulosis of the intestines, gastritis (inflammation of the stomach lining)and I even developed a hiatal hernia and have to take prevacid daily ever since I started taking Yasmin! I eat healthy, I am 33 years old, I don't drink or do drugs and I don't smoke. I swear I am beginning to think all of this may have been caused by the Yasmin since none of it was occurring before I started taking the Yasmin 4.5 years ago!? I think I want to get off of it now, but I am afraid to take any other birth control due to suffering from more side effects. Although I do want to have children with my boyfriend when we get married in a few years, I am in fear of getting pregnant now if I get off the Yasmin. I don't even know if the rythym method truly works. Help?!

Silke
Hi, BitterRN again. I dont believe your gyn either. What you are coming to realize is what all of us in the medical field already know, and its scary, but all doctors do not have the same knowledge in all fields of medicine. That is why experts always push second opinions all the time in hopes that the second time you will run into someone who has more knowledge and experience in your particular problem. I know this because I see it everyday, please believe me, and EVERY WOMAN ON THIS SITE PLEASE KNOW THIS: A doctor is only as good as he continues to strive to be. As far as hormones go a gyn has limited knowledge about them exept that the normal ranges fall between here and here as printed on the lab report, if your labs fall in the normal even if normal is 0.3 to 4.4 if your lab comes back 0.3 well thats normal right? BUT IT IS NOT NORMAL, normal for an 80 year old maybe, but not a young woman. So only if that gyn has taken a particular interest in hormones, gone to many seminars, read many books about them, interacted with experts on hormones, will they even know to flag this as abnormal and further investigate it. They will tell you everything is fine and by process of elimination its all in your head. ITS NOT. Even being a nurse I was told this and it infuriated me. Thats why I seeked Dr after Dr until I found one who could help me. Rarely do you find a Dr. who will say hey Silke, Im just not sure about these labs or Im not really an expert on hormones so maybe you should seek out another opinion or sometimes they really think they are right because thats what they have always told patients for the 20yrs they have been practicing and so your just depressed or crazy, but we all know that medicine changes rapidly, year to year, so if they dont keep up, they just keep treating with "old methods", because thats the way its always been done.
Sorry to get on my soapbox Silke I just get so frustrated! That is why I gave you the name of that Dr. in Spain because I knew that he was an expert on hormones. I know Spain is far!:( I even tried to google Dr's in Europe who are experts in hormones with no results.
So yes when you call your doctors office ask for copies of this lab report (You have a right to your medical records) they may make you sign a release for them and go to the office to get them that how they do it in the U.S. Anyway tell them you want a copy of ALL of your lab reports from this visit AND the visits where you had the labs done a long time ago. This way we can compare what they were last time. I would even be willing to ask my doctor here if she thinks your levels are too low and maybe you should get another opinion. She may even have some leads of Dr.s there who can really help, as she attends many seminars where experts gather worldwide.
OK Silke, Ill let you go, sorry for the long post....again:)
BitterRN